Tuesday, December 13, 2011

Holiday Hairstyles: Candy Cane

It's "Candy Cane Day" at my princess's school and we did this hairstyle in honor of that.

Begin by making a curved part starting over behind the left ear. Have it curve up about two inches from the bang line and then come down to a straight part in the center. (I wish that my curve would have been a bit more defined so make sure it is exactly how you want it before continuing on.)

Comb all of the hair below and to the left of the part down to the nape of the neck where you will create a Regular 3-Strand Braid out of it.

Now move back up to that hair by the left ear and start creating a Half-French Braid by only gathering hair into the outside strands of your braid so that it lies directly on top of the part you have created.

Continue adding in hair as you plate around the curve and once you get to your straight part you can start adding in hair to both sides of your braid to create a regular French Braid the rest of the way down. Once you've added all of the hair in you can finish it off with a Regular 3-Strand Braid.

Now grab some red and white ribbon and a plastic yarn needle. Start with one of your colors and tuck the end in over by the left ear - I used a bobby pin to hold it in place.

Now thread the ribbon through your yarn needle and start weaving it around your French Braid. Finish it all the way to the end of the braid on the right side of the head and then go back up to the top and repeat the same steps with your other color of ribbon. Secure your ends at the bottom of your braid with another elastic.

Know I'm late to the party. But we did this for Candy Cane day at school. I practiced it over the weekend and didn't like how it turned out with her super long hair. So I ended up doing a variation of this. I had her lay upside down on the sofa while I dutch braided half of it upside down, then, holding on tight, I had her stand up. I switched to a lace braid to make it turn. Then I finished with a dutch braid down the other side of her head. She was getting comments on it as soon as she got out of the car at school!